Yoga Art and Self Growth
I just thought I would let you all know that I have updated My Shoes. I have left a few thoughts there if you would like to read and get some more understanding about my day to day life. It can be very emotional and triggering for those who are sensitive to terminal illness and loss.
I’m sending you all good vibes!
Until Next Time,
Namaste.
I am in a very weird state of mind at the moment and all I crave is peace. I don’t want to have to feel the stress and worry. I want to be able to breathe deep and actually feel calm. I dream of smiling and meaning it. One thing I need to remind myself of is that there is constantly peace surrounding me, I just need to find it.
I work hard, like so many humans out there… we work hard, we stress, we don’t make time for ourselves. Yes, our work differs and our lives are very different but I find stress doesn’t care who you are or what kind of life you live. If you are alive you will probably have some kind of stress.
Personally, my stress stems from my mother. The weight that constantly sits on my heart, the big question of when death might take her. That is my stress.
Today while I was hanging the washing I realized that there is peace all around me. The breeze is peaceful, the air I breathe. The trees swinging in the wind, the bee landing on the flower, the sun warming my skin, the birds singing… it is all peace. Nature at peace. natures peace is my peace too, if I accept it. I can breathe in peace everyday if I choose to see it that way.
The next time I am craving peace, I will breathe and be thankful for the peace within and around me. I invite you to do the same.
Until Next Time,
Namaste.
I am feeling all the emotions at the moment. Life has been tough. This past week has been tough. I will allow myself to feel the emotions and I will not bully myself.
I just realized how long it has been since I posted and I thought I should probably say something, put something out there.
For those of you who don’t know this about me, I am a writer, I write novels (nothing published, that’s the dream) and I have started a couple new stories that I want to explore. I find that I express my feelings through writing in a completely different way than painting and I know that if I am having heavy art block, I need to turn to a new story to get my creativity flowing again. So that is what I will be doing from now on while I am going through the feels. I thought I would just update you all on this and I hope you are all staying safe and keeping as much of a light heart as possible.
I am constantly thinking of all of those people out there struggling and I send them love. If there’s one thing I could really do with right now, that would be a hug. So I’m sending all you beautiful humans a giant virtual hug!
I will try to at least post once a week during this time of all the emotions.
Until next time,
Namaste.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE fan of Friends. I have been watching it for many many years. It has always been a big part of my life.
In the episode The One With The Jellyfish, Phoebe sings a song “Sixty-Six Colors Of My Bedroom” at the end of the song, she invites her listeners to count the colors in their room. Well, that’s what I did. I probably didn’t do it as accurately as Phoebe but I did it and I’m going to share it with you!
So I counted the colors roughly and I believe I have 80 colors. Yes, way more than Phoebe’s but I counted the colors of my books and all the random things in my room. It’s a bit like a rainbow threw up in there, even on a tidy day. I tried to get the best matches and I think I did good. I had a lot of fun with this and I invite you to do the same! Plus, look at all the pretty colors!! 🙂
As always I am sending you all good vibes!
Until next time,
Namaste.
I tend to have vivid dreams, I always have and lately my dreams have been very weird. There are messages hidden in our dreams I have always believed that. I can hear my mothers voice now- “write them down, if you want to find out what they mean you have to write them down, with as much detail as possible. Then you need to analyze it. You need to figure out what every word and action that happened in the dream means to you. ” I never really understood her way of dissecting dreams and getting messages from them but it worked for her. She is such an amazing person.
I want to figure out what works for me with analyzing dreams. I want to find the right way for me. I want to start by writing down my dreams. I will keep a dream journal and in the morning as I wake up I will write down everything I remember that happened in my dream. What will be more challenging is if I wake up in the middle of the night from a disturbing dream, I want to write that down too. (I don’t know if that one will happen.)
This should be a fun exercise for me. I love dreaming, I love the world I go to when I sleep. Sometimes it is weird and scary but mostly it’s fun and peaceful. I just thought I would share this. I’ll probably do a post in the future about how it’s going or if I lost track and maybe stopped. (There’s nothing wrong with that.)
I hope this post finds you all well and healthy!
Until next time,
Namaste.
So I thought I would do something a bit different for this post. I am a huge bookworm. I love books. I love reading books, I love collecting books and I love smelling books. 🙂
So I wanted to start a list here for my 2020 TBR! I will update and edit this list as I finish or add books. I don’t know if this will be an entertaining read for you guys but I wanted to post this because it is part of who I am. I love my books and I love writing lists. So this is the best of both worlds for me.
That’s it for now. I think I will add four at a time.
Are you guys reading anything interesting at the moment?
Sending you all good vibes!
Until next time,
Namaste.
Do you guys do this? In times like these the stress levels are through the roof. I tend to turn to food. I snack. I can snack all day long and I do know that it isn’t exactly healthy but like I have said many times before, it is okay to process and go through these traumatic times in whichever way works for you.
So with that said, lets talk about some of my favorite snacks and maybe by the end of this fun post you’ll want to join me. 🙂
Who doesn’t love chocolate? Well, I actually do know a couple of people who hate chocolate but lets ignore that. I love chocolate, as long as I have my chocolates and some good coffee I am a happy lady! I love all chocolate! I also happen to love the movie Chocolat. I usually eat chocolate while watching it. 🙂
Or crisps, I love sitting down with a bag of chips. I need some salty treats too! My favorite flavors are Cheese, Lightly Salted, Salt and Vinegar, Tomato and Sour Cream and Chives. Do you guys like chips?
I love eating cookies, I hate making them. The problem is, I will finish a whole box of cookies by myself. There is something very comforting about a cookie. I love Choc Chip, Shortbread and Sugar Cookies.
Okay, I know instant noodles are definitely not healthy at all but it is pure comfort for me. It is something I used to eat often as a kid and it just takes me back to calmer, peaceful days.
So those are my favorite things to eat when I’m stressed and emotional. I’m sure I’m not alone in this. So go on and enjoy your snacks, don’t feel guilty. You do what you need to do for your mental health.
I hope you are all well and safe out there.
Until next time,
Namaste.
I think cake is important in a lockdown. I will be baking tomorrow. I have a few oranges that I want to use. I have a faithful lemon cake recipe that I always use, I change it constantly but I’ve settled on the recipe you will find below. I will be using oranges instead of lemons. I find this is an easy cake to change up when I want to. Sometimes I will add a syrup to the cake if I want it really moist. I have a really wonky oven so I bake it on 150, because my 150 is everyone else’s 180.
Ingredients.
1 cup oil (I use sunflower)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/3 cup lemon zest
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 fresh lemon juice
3/4 buttermilk
For The Glaze
2 cups icing sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice.
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Prepare and line two loaf tins.
Beat the oil and sugar, then add eggs one at a time. Add the zest.
In another bowl, add the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
In a jug or bowl, combine the lemon juice and the buttermilk.
Add the flour and wet mixture to the batter bit by bit. Try to end with the flour. Beat till it’s smooth.
Then divide the mixture between the two tins. Bake for 40 min – 50 min. (my oven is weird.) Turn out and allow to cool.
Glaze
Combine the icing sugar and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle over the cakes once they have cooled down.
Do you guys enjoy baking? My mom taught me to bake, it makes me feel so much closer to her.
I hope you guys are keeping safe.
Until next time,
Namaste.
As I have mentioned before, music is so good for the mental health! You know what else is good for it? Movement! Get the blood pumping a bit. Get those good endorphins. You’ll be amazed at how good and lighthearted it will make you feel.
One of my favorite ways to get some movement in is to have a dance party on my own. It has always been an activity I do on my own… lockdown or not. (I don’t dance in front of people.)
I put on some of my favorite music and just start moving. I let the beat take me away and before I know it, I have a huge smile on my face and I feel much better.
So I suggest you guys try it. Have a dance party and let yourself relax, who knows… you may find out you’re an incredible dancer, and if your not, who cares? No one’s watching. 🙂
I hope you are all well and had an awesome day!
Until next time,
Namaste.
Where I am, Autumn has shown itself. I find this season poetic, sad and beautiful. For me, it is a time of letting go, allowing the natural way of things to progress. Death is natural and if we let it happen with an open heart it can be beautiful.
It is a time of celebration too, we have a few birthdays in Autumn and Winter. So even though things have become dormant, there is always life in the home.
It’s my mom’s birthday in May, I wonder what it will be like this year. I want it to be warm, warm in every way. I want our home to be filled with love and happiness, I want it to surround her. I welcome the cold winter because I know the warmth that will come with it. The warmth of love.
I enjoy making the house I live in into a home, it’s well lived in… full of history and memories. The people I love in frames on the walls, my art littered around. Bursts of colour in the kitchen. My mothers paintings. The crockery I grew up with, fruit and vegetables, bright and ready to be eaten on the island. Santa Clause is still above the oven because he makes me happy. Trees outside all the windows. It doesn’t matter where I look I will find a tree, or two or three. My mothers energy is the heart of this home. I made sure of that.
Yes, Autumn is here, winter is well on it’s way but it is warm in my heart and my home.
I welcome whatever change may come, I embrace the lessons needed to be learnt, I want to grow. I want to change. I want to be renewed. I will take this time, in these cold months to better myself. I will become stronger, more courageous and above all, more connected to myself and this beautiful earth.
Sending everyone loads of love and good vibes.
Until next time,
Namaste.
Paint and My Mat